Hi, we will be in St. Thomas the week of Thanksgiving this year. What can we expect as far as shops/restaurants being closed, crowds, closed attractions etc? I expect it to be busy, but just how busy? Do we need to make reservations now?

Also, we will be travelling with children. What is a good store near the Ritz to pick up things like diapers, baby food, snacks etc. We will have a rental car.

Thanks in advance for the help.

It is going to be a madhouse! be prepared for long lines and traffic in most places. as far as shopping, the best area for groceries, diapers and the like is Plaza Extra in Tutu. About a 15 minute car ride and has the cheapest prices on the island (be ready for sticker shock!) best of luck and enjoy our little paradise!

You might also check out the Food Center which is right up the road from the Ritz on route 32.

Hi Stern1 and welcome to the message board,

You can also check K-mart (which is in the same shopping area called Tutu Park Mall as Plaza Extra) and Cost-U-Less (which is a few minutes drive from Tutu Park Mall) for diapers, baby food & snacks. K-mart also has floats, noodles, pails and other beach toys in case you need to pick some of those things up for the kids.

For thanksgiving meal, you should research that now and make reservations.

As for closings: government offices, banks, post office, schools will be closed Thanksgiving Day. Everything else will be pretty much business as usual; ferry will be running, shops downtown for the most part will be open - a few shops might close, check on restaurants for that day/night as previous mentioned, and if you had a particular attraction you wanted to go to on Thursday and also Friday you should contact them to double check their hours.

Crowds: we are coming off low-season right now; late November is when things start to pick up. We get on island visitors and also cruise visitors. Because a lot of the cruise folks take tours you notice the groups at the popular cruise ship tour spots and beaches. Thanksgiving week there are ships all week but the number of ships varies: Monday there is 1 ship, Tuesday there are 4 on St. Thomas and 1 on St. John, Wednesday 3 on St. Thomas, Thursday 2 for St. Thomas and 1 on St. John and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday 1 each day on St. Thomas. So you might plan to head to downtown Charlotte Amalie on a day with just 1 ship and same goes for popular cruise tour beaches like Magens and Coki, and head to St. John on a day with no ships there. Expect more traffic into and out of downtown Charlotte Amalie and Havensight on days with more ships; particularly in the mid-late afternoon when cruisers generally are heading back to the ship.

Have a great time,

--Islander

I will be at the Ritz as well that week!!! It is not to bad and if you do not want to go far there is a small store in Red Hook you can go or you can go to the local store off the the left leaving the Ritz. I always have the Ritz get everything for me so when We get to the room we are all set. If it is the Hotel part of the Ritz they might not offer that service. The is a place next to the Ritz called Roberts that is good. I think it is the complex right before you get to the Ritz and it is not as expensive. Have fun and maybe we will run into each other.

My advice would be to get the heck outta St. Thomas!! Take the ferry to Jost one day and hang out Ivan's or The Soggy Dollar . Ferry leaves around 8 and comes back at 4 or so. One of the best days you'll have. PROMISE. Take another day or two and go to St John. Maybe do a open air taxi tour if that's your thing, or check out some beaches. Anywhere but Trunk Bay. Try to get out to Coral Bay for some incredible views if you can.

All those cruise ships over the holidays in STT? No thanks!

Coconutz, have you ever stayed in St Thomas to give such advice? St Thomas offers all what you say they can get elsewhere. Unless you have not tried it, don't knock it. Also, they are traveling with children. It will not be a madhouse plus the East end hardly notices ant difference when the ships are in.

RL

I don't think you need to make reservations. I've been checking the papers daily to find out the restaurant offerings for Thanksgiving, and so far, there haven't been any ads, so I doubt that any place will be crowded.

Some of the resorts offer a buffet, but most of the restaurants should have some turkey/Thanksgiving special. I think there were so many last year, that some restaurants were stuck with turkey the day after, so maybe they're scaling back this year?

Some places on St John have advertised their Thanksgiving plans. Maho says their glass blowers will be blowing throughout the day, and dinner starts at 4:30. That may be something for your family to consider.

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RonUSVI
Coconutz, have you ever stayed in St Thomas to give such advice? St Thomas offers all what you say they can get elsewhere. Unless you have not tried it, don't knock it. Also, they are traveling with children. It will not be a madhouse plus the East end hardly notices ant difference when the ships are in.

Agreed.

To the OP, you are also not far from the Plaza Extra supermarket in the Tutu Park Mall (where the "big" KMart is located) nor from CostULess which is further down the road on the Weymouth Rhymer Highway. Holidays here are, for many workers, another working day and most places are open for business as usual. If you don't want to deal with the hustle and bustle of town on a heavy cruise ship day, there is plenty on the East end to keep you occupied and, as Ron said, the cruise ship traffic affects the East End very minimally. Enjoy a wonderful visit!